Ur-Hamlet

E495309

Ur-Hamlet is a hypothesized lost Elizabethan play, likely about the Danish prince Hamlet, that is thought to have significantly influenced Shakespeare’s *Hamlet*.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Hamlet 1

Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Elizabethan play
hypothetical lost play
lost work
source text
associatedConcept Hamlet tradition
lost plays in early modern drama
source criticism of Shakespeare
attributedAuthor Thomas Kyd NERFINISHED
basedOn legend of Amleth
basedOnSource Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum NERFINISHED
centralCharacter Hamlet NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin England
culturalContext English Renaissance theatre
dramaticFeature court intrigue
ghost of Hamlet’s father NERFINISHED
mad or feigned-mad protagonist
murder and revenge
dramaticForm revenge tragedy
evidenceType conjectural reconstruction by scholars
indirect documentary references
existenceStatus lost
genre tragedy
influencedAuthor William Shakespeare NERFINISHED
influencedWork Hamlet NERFINISHED
influenceType character constellation
plot structure
revenge-motif conventions
language English
literaryPeriod Elizabethan era NERFINISHED
possibleAuthor Thomas Kyd NERFINISHED
William Shakespeare NERFINISHED
anonymous Elizabethan playwright
relationshipToHamlet earlier dramatic treatment of the Hamlet story
probable source play for Shakespeare’s Hamlet
scholarlyDebate authorship
date of composition
degree of influence on Shakespeare’s Hamlet
whether it was distinct from early versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
setting Denmark NERFINISHED
statusInShakespeareStudies important hypothetical source
subject Danish royal family NERFINISHED
Prince Hamlet NERFINISHED
textualSurvival no known surviving manuscript
no known surviving printed edition

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thomas Kyd hasWorkAttributed Ur-Hamlet
Hamlet influencedBy Ur-Hamlet
Thomas Kyd influencedWork Ur-Hamlet
this entity surface form: Hamlet